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D, 1D. SHARP. VEHIG'LB SPRING.

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UNITED STATES` PATENT FENICE.

`DENNIS SHARP,` OF ITHACA, NEW YORK.

/ VEHICLE-SPRING.

SPECIFICATION forming part tfl -Letters Patent No. 291,412, datedJanuary 1, 1884.

` Application nieaaulyenissa. (Nomad.)

.To all 2071/0772/ it may concern- Beit known that I, DENNIs P. SHARP,of

Ithaca, in the county of Tompkins, in the State of New York, haveinvented new and useful Improvements `in Vehicle-Springs, of which thefollowing, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, is afull, clear, and exact description.

This invention consists in certain peculiar means of connectingball-and-soeket-jointed ends of two springs, all as hereinafter morefully explained, and set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a side view of my invention asapplied to a twowheeled vehicle. Fig. 2 illustrates its application toa'four-wheeled vehicle, and Figs. 3

and a are enlarged sectional views illustrating the connection of thetwo springs.

. Similarletters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

a and b represent, respectively, the side and cross springs of avehicle. rlhe body B is mounted on the cross-springs, which aresupported by their ends coupled to the ends of the "side springs, whichlatter may be firmly secured at the centeueither to the axle A of atwo-wheeled vehicle, as shown in Fig. I of the drawings, or to sidebars, S, riding on the hind axle and forward bolster of a four-wheeledvehicle, as represented in Fig. 2 of the drawings. In either case theends of the side springs receive a downward pressure, which causes saidends to deflect when subjected to To prevent excessive deeetion of saidsprings, they haveheretofore been re-en-` forced by additional leavesapplied to the top of the central portion of the springs, and made toconstantly bear with their entire length on This construction causes thevibration of the springs to produce friction .between the leaves, andalso maintains the single-leaved ends of the spring at a uniform lengthduring the motions of the spring, and thus limits the action of the sameaccordingly.

An attempt has been made to 11e-enforce a spring by additional leavesfastened at one end to a prolonged spring-supporting bar by separate andindependent attachments `at opposite sides of the attachmenuof the mainleaf, the supplemental leaves having been isolated from the main leafthroughout their length. Such combination and arrangement of parts,how-v ever, required extra attachments for the supplemental leaves andfailed to afford the requisite stability to said leaves, inasmuch` assaid end attachment was subjected to undue strain. Furthermore, when thesupplemental leaves were brought into action they did not graduallyincrease their bearings on the main leaf, but came with their free endsuddenly to a bearing on the body of the vehicle or its supporting-bar,and consequently produced jars and rattling. In another instance ahalfspring has been combined with an elliptic spring, which supportedthe body of the vehicle, and although said two springs were conneetedatthe center and the ends of the halfspring were isolated from theelliptic spring, yet the former were connected with the body, and thehalf-spring or supplemental spring received the strain directly on itsends, and consequently acted, to a great extent, independent of the mainor elliptic spring.. To oyercome these defects I employ, in connectionwith the mainleaf of the spring, asupplemental leaf, c, the centralportion of which is contiguous to or lies directly on the central porsothat the action of said supplemental leaf depends solely on the actionof the main leaf. rlhe result of this arrangement is that, when a loadis applied to the vehicle, the main leaf is depressed and caused togradually increase itsbearings on the supplemental leaf' from` thecentertoward the ends thereof, thus gradually receiving the support ofthe supplemental leaf throughout the action of the main leaf withoutproducing jars or rattling ofthe spring.

This renders thespring very sensitive, andyet affords the same stabilityas that obtained by` the ordinary construction of analogous springs.VThe connection of the cross-spring with the side spring Iform by lappingthe end of the former over the end of the latter, and

IOO

tting the overlapping portions to each other with a ball-and-socketjoint, d, which m'ayconsist either of two concavo-eonvex end portions ofthe springs resting one in the other, as shown in Fig. 3 of thedrawings, or of two cup or socket shaped ends of the springs einbracingan interposed ball, f, as represented in Fig. I of the drawings. Ineither ease the parts are coupled together by means of a bolt, e,passing vertically through theball-andsoek et joint, as shown.

I am aware that springs have been connected by a ball-and-soeket joint,and I thereforeA do not claim the same, broadly.

. By placing a rubber or leather disk, o', between the ball and socket,the rattling of the jointisgto a great extent obviated. l

Having described myl invention, what I` clamasnew, and desire to secureby-Letters Patent; is

1. The improved spring-coupling consisting ofV av ball-andfsocket jointformed on the ends of the springs, and a coupling-bolt passing throughthe center of said joint, substantially as described and shown.

2. The combination, with the ball-andsocket joint, of the-cushion r,interposed between the ball and socket, and the couplingsubstantially inthe manner shown and set In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed myname and afIiXed my seal, in the presence of two attesting witnesses, atSyracuse, in the county of Onondaga, in the State of New York, this 18thday of July, 1883.

DENNIS P. SHARP: s@

FREDERICK H. GIBBs, WM. CHANDLER RAYMOND.

